Sunday, October 21, 2007
Podcast Interview with Jessica Clary
This is the first podcast for The Convenient Truth. Within, I interview Jessica Clary, Assistant Student Media Director for SCAD, and family member of the Jordan Oil Company. The Jordan Oil Company owns all Hot Spot convenience stores. Jessica shares the interesting experiences she's had over the years relating to the convenience store industry. The podcast runs around 24 minutes.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Chevron
Memories of my first year at SCAD come to mind whenever I visit this gas station. The Chevron on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Oglethorpe Avenue is the place for dorm-trapped, car-less freshman to forage for "food" when the unappetizing Cafe SCAD is closed as usual.
When I was a photography major living at Weston House, I spent a lot of late nights at Bergen Hall. Only two establishments offered something to eat on the path between Weston and Bergen. Chevron and Carlito's Mexican Restaurant. Since I was spending all of my money on archival fiber paper and medium format film, it couldn't always be "taco night."
The Chevron is a standard gas station store. It's cramped and doesn't offer anything very interesting or unusual aside from maybe Bawls Energy Drink, a highly caffeinated Sprite-style beverage that comes in a blue glass bottle. This was a hit with the freshman crowd pulling all-nighters. Everything else is average. Day-old "hunk-a-pizza" slices under heat lamps, every salty snack you shouldn't be eating, and often a long line due to lottery ticket sales. Not much going on, until you step outside.
A convenient set of deck tables and chairs are arranged outside the storefront where some classic late-night Savannah characters like to hang out. That one guy you thought was going to rob you yesterday, a bag lady curbing her methadone craving with some circus peanuts, three old men mumbling at every woman in a ten foot radius.
However, there are some nice people outside the Chevron as well. One night my girlfriend and I saw a golden retriever running free a few blocks from the Chevron on Oglethorpe Ave. We both tried to calm it down and keep it from running in traffic, and it ended up hiding in the bushes in the median outside Oglethorpe House. We stopped a SCAD Security SUV and asked if he would help, only to hear "I don't touch no wild dog." We decided there wasn't much we could do until we got the number for the Humane Society or Save-a-Life, so we headed back to the dorm. We saw a dog barking inside a parked truck while we crossed the Chevron parking lot. The trucker came out and noticed we were looking at his dog. We told him about the dog running loose, and he called his girlfriend who happened to be a volunteer with the Humane Society. So yes, I can say something good did come out of this particular store.
The Chevron is still apparently the place to go for emergency food and/or cigarettes during 11 a.m. class breaks, so I suppose it lives up to its name as a convenience store. If not for its convenient location near Crites and Bergen Halls, I say don't bother coming to this place. Unless you've lost your dog.
Google Map
When I was a photography major living at Weston House, I spent a lot of late nights at Bergen Hall. Only two establishments offered something to eat on the path between Weston and Bergen. Chevron and Carlito's Mexican Restaurant. Since I was spending all of my money on archival fiber paper and medium format film, it couldn't always be "taco night."
The Chevron is a standard gas station store. It's cramped and doesn't offer anything very interesting or unusual aside from maybe Bawls Energy Drink, a highly caffeinated Sprite-style beverage that comes in a blue glass bottle. This was a hit with the freshman crowd pulling all-nighters. Everything else is average. Day-old "hunk-a-pizza" slices under heat lamps, every salty snack you shouldn't be eating, and often a long line due to lottery ticket sales. Not much going on, until you step outside.
A convenient set of deck tables and chairs are arranged outside the storefront where some classic late-night Savannah characters like to hang out. That one guy you thought was going to rob you yesterday, a bag lady curbing her methadone craving with some circus peanuts, three old men mumbling at every woman in a ten foot radius.
However, there are some nice people outside the Chevron as well. One night my girlfriend and I saw a golden retriever running free a few blocks from the Chevron on Oglethorpe Ave. We both tried to calm it down and keep it from running in traffic, and it ended up hiding in the bushes in the median outside Oglethorpe House. We stopped a SCAD Security SUV and asked if he would help, only to hear "I don't touch no wild dog." We decided there wasn't much we could do until we got the number for the Humane Society or Save-a-Life, so we headed back to the dorm. We saw a dog barking inside a parked truck while we crossed the Chevron parking lot. The trucker came out and noticed we were looking at his dog. We told him about the dog running loose, and he called his girlfriend who happened to be a volunteer with the Humane Society. So yes, I can say something good did come out of this particular store.
The Chevron is still apparently the place to go for emergency food and/or cigarettes during 11 a.m. class breaks, so I suppose it lives up to its name as a convenience store. If not for its convenient location near Crites and Bergen Halls, I say don't bother coming to this place. Unless you've lost your dog.
Google Map
Monday, October 8, 2007
The Origin of the Convenience Store
While doing a little research for some reviews, I stumbled upon the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) website. Yeah, something like that really exists. They've got a lengthy section describing the rich history of the convenience store in America, which goes something like this.
On the corner of 12th and Edgefield Streets in Dallas, Texas, circa May 1927, The Southland Ice Company's "Uncle Johnny" Jefferson Green, owner of the Southland Ice Dock, realized people needed to buy basic necessities like bread, eggs and milk after the grocery stores were closed. He stocked the items at his ice shop and stayed open late, making the world a more convenient place.
The convenience store grew rapidly after the second World War alongside the idea of the "American dream." More families had more cars and lived in more suburbs, further away from shopping centers and large grocery stores. So, more convenience stores came into existence. As for the Southland Ice Company? They changed their name to 7-Eleven, Inc.
Since the 1950s, the convenience store has grown into the gas stations and corner stores we see today. Nearly everywhere across the country you can find a place to feed your nicotine habit, spoil your diet, gamble away your hard-earned dollar, and buy the beer you need to forget about all of that. Ah, the convenience store. Thanks, Uncle Johnny.
On the corner of 12th and Edgefield Streets in Dallas, Texas, circa May 1927, The Southland Ice Company's "Uncle Johnny" Jefferson Green, owner of the Southland Ice Dock, realized people needed to buy basic necessities like bread, eggs and milk after the grocery stores were closed. He stocked the items at his ice shop and stayed open late, making the world a more convenient place.
The convenience store grew rapidly after the second World War alongside the idea of the "American dream." More families had more cars and lived in more suburbs, further away from shopping centers and large grocery stores. So, more convenience stores came into existence. As for the Southland Ice Company? They changed their name to 7-Eleven, Inc.
Since the 1950s, the convenience store has grown into the gas stations and corner stores we see today. Nearly everywhere across the country you can find a place to feed your nicotine habit, spoil your diet, gamble away your hard-earned dollar, and buy the beer you need to forget about all of that. Ah, the convenience store. Thanks, Uncle Johnny.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Parker's Market
Simply put, Parker's Market on Drayton is a small version of The Fresh Market with a gas pump outside.
This is one of the few places I've ever known where you can buy green pistachio muffins (the greatest baked good I could never successfully create in my own kitchen). This Parker's contains a full-fledged bakery with far more elegant items than a Little Debbie Honey Bun or other such "convenient" dessert. There's a deli with meals you'd find on the menu of most bistros or coffee shops. There's an entire room devoted to beer, which is always a good thing. There are plenty of import beers alongside the usual PBR and malt liquor. They have an impressive variety of gourmet groceries, like lingonberries and organic macaroni and cheese. There's a large selection of emergency Mother's Day gift-type items and things you think are "neat" until you look at the price sticker. Their magazine rack is stocked with plenty of uncommon newsstand finds. They usually have an assortment of flowers perfect for picking up after a fight with your significant other. The cash register even dispenses the correct amount of change directly to a cup, to avoid cashier incompetency.
The downside is pretty obvious as soon as you enter: prices. A six-pack of Newcastle costs about $2.50 over retail. A plain egg salad sandwich, $4.49. That little jar of lingonberry jam is a five-dollar item. Want to not disappoint Mom? It'll cost you. And you'd better start looking for a new significant other if you're on a budget, those flower prices are jacked. What about that sought-after pistachio muffin? It ranks in at a reasonable two dollars. I'm serious.
The Parker Companies define the location on Drayton St. as an "urban gourmet," rather than their usual "convenience store." I guess what they mean by "urban" is you can pump gas at the usual ridiculous price, and by "gourmet;" you can buy nice crap inside at the same rip-off level.
Google Map
This is one of the few places I've ever known where you can buy green pistachio muffins (the greatest baked good I could never successfully create in my own kitchen). This Parker's contains a full-fledged bakery with far more elegant items than a Little Debbie Honey Bun or other such "convenient" dessert. There's a deli with meals you'd find on the menu of most bistros or coffee shops. There's an entire room devoted to beer, which is always a good thing. There are plenty of import beers alongside the usual PBR and malt liquor. They have an impressive variety of gourmet groceries, like lingonberries and organic macaroni and cheese. There's a large selection of emergency Mother's Day gift-type items and things you think are "neat" until you look at the price sticker. Their magazine rack is stocked with plenty of uncommon newsstand finds. They usually have an assortment of flowers perfect for picking up after a fight with your significant other. The cash register even dispenses the correct amount of change directly to a cup, to avoid cashier incompetency.
The downside is pretty obvious as soon as you enter: prices. A six-pack of Newcastle costs about $2.50 over retail. A plain egg salad sandwich, $4.49. That little jar of lingonberry jam is a five-dollar item. Want to not disappoint Mom? It'll cost you. And you'd better start looking for a new significant other if you're on a budget, those flower prices are jacked. What about that sought-after pistachio muffin? It ranks in at a reasonable two dollars. I'm serious.
The Parker Companies define the location on Drayton St. as an "urban gourmet," rather than their usual "convenience store." I guess what they mean by "urban" is you can pump gas at the usual ridiculous price, and by "gourmet;" you can buy nice crap inside at the same rip-off level.
Google Map
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)